Ogio Road Trip bag

Nice looking bag, but its lack of stability on your back means that it’s not as practical as it could be

Weight:

800g

Contact:

www.madison.co.uk

Ogio Road Trip bag

510Lara Dunn

Ogio Road Trip bag

The Ogio Road Trip is designed to be a women's cycling specific shoulder bag with a dash of messenger cool. It's a nice concept: a messenger bag with lots of pockets and a style that's a bit less 'rugged and urban' and a little more feminine instead. But does it work?

At first glance, the Road Trip is an attractive bag. I found the beige 'buttercream' unappealing but as the bag is available in a variety of colours, including black, aqua and navy, that's not a major niggle. It's nicely styled, with an unmistakable nod towards the courier bag, but with genteel proportions and a girly edge. It has a strap that curves around to sit across the chest, to leave the bag hanging across the lumbar area of your back, in courier bag fashion.

The Road Trip has no fewer than eight varied pockets - including a rather mysterious pocket with a little 'no men' symbol on it - plus a substantial main compartment. That main compartment is zipped, lightly padded and should securely accommodate most laptops up to 15in. It's not waterproof so you might want to consider an additional sleeve anyway. There's also a grab handle on the top of the bag.

In use, the bag did not live up to its initial promise. The shoulder strap is adjustable by only a small amount, and was still long even at its shortest. It's not ideal for shorter women or those with shorter backs. Whilst it didn't hang ridiculously low for me (at 5ft 5in), it did hang behind the saddle - although still well clear of the wheel. More strap adjustment would have been better. However, the main problem with the strap was the lack of any kind of secondary chest strap to prevent the bag from swinging round when riding. This, coupled with the bag's silky backing fabric, meant that it migrated around to my side, then further forwards, rather than sitting securely across my lower back. I was constantly having to re-position it. It's fiddly and irritating at best, potentially dangerous at worst, if you're in busy traffic.

The migration issue means that the Road Trip just doesn't cut it as a commuter bag. I'm sure even the most sedate of recreational riders would find it a problem.

Verdict

Nice looking bag, but its lack of stability on your back means that it's not as practical as it could be

road.cc test report

Make and model: Ogio Road Trip bag

Size tested: Buttercream

Tell us what the product is for, and who it's aimed at. What do the manufacturers say about it? How does that compare to your own feelings about it?

Aimed at style conscious female riders who want an urban styled bag but with a feminine touch.

Looks the part, but doesn't quite match function with form.

Tell us some more about the technical aspects of the product?

8 pockets- some zipped, some velcro, some magnetic- each purpose-designed and with an icon to show proposed use.

Padded main body with zip- will hold up to 15" laptop

Padded shoulder strap- adjustable

Rate the product for quality of construction:

8/10

Well made and sturdy.

Rate the product for performance:

5/10

Comfortable and very usable but there's a big problem with it migrating around the body when cycling.

Rate the product for durability:

7/10

Pretty tough.

Rate the product for weight, if applicable:

7/10

Quite light for the level of padding etc.

Rate the product for comfort, if applicable:

5/10

Very comfortable strap and back of bag, but less comfortable in use due to instability/migration issues.

Rate the product for value:

5/10

Would be good value if it didn't swing around the body in use.

Tell us how the product performed overall when used for its designed purpose

Useful size and nice design with lots of handy pockets, but ultimately it didn't do what a courier bag is supposed to. It didn't stay put when riding.

Lara has been riding bikes for longer than she'd care to admit, and writing about them nearly as long. Since 2009 she has been working as part of the road.cc review team whilst championing women's cycling on the side, most notably via two years as editor of the, sadly now defunct, UK's first and only women's cycling mag, erm, Women's Cycling.

Believing fervently that cycling will save the world, she wishes that more people would just ride a bike and be pleasant to each other.

She will ride anything with two wheels, occasionally likes to go fast, definitely likes to go far and is always up for a bit of exploring somewhere new and exciting.

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